Alamogordo police offer two locations for Drug Take Back Day

The RX Drug Take Back Day is this Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.. in Alamogordo.

"We invite you to bring your prescription medications that are no longer needed, have expired, or remain unused for any other reason," Alamogordo Police Department Sgt. Tracy Corbett said in a press release. "The service is free, anonymous, and there will be no questions asked."

Disposing of medication properly frees up space in a person's medicine cabinet and makes your home safer, according to a press release issued by the city.

Prescription drugs can be deliberately or accidentally misused and should not be left in the home when no longer needed, the release states.

Drop off sites will be at Lowe's Grocery Pharmacy, 675 Tenth St., and the Alamogordo Police Department Earth Day booth, right by the Chamber of Commerce building entrance at the Alameda Park Zoo.

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, drop off sites are also at the New Mexico State Police Headquarters, 411 10th St. Suite 101 and the Holloman Air Force Base commissary.

The Department of Health reported 486 New Mexicans died of drug overdose in 2012. That was a seven percent decrease from 2011.

"Safely disposing of old or unused prescription drugs in our own homes is one small step we can all take to limit the availability of drugs in our communities," said Southwest Region Public Health Director Ray Stewart. "I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to clean out their own medicine cabinets."

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National Drug Take Back Day is sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and has been successful over the last seven years of removing over 3.4 million pounds of medication from circulation, the release states.

"This means 3.4 million pounds of pills were not diverted, misused, or abused in the United States where studies show that the majority of abused prescription medications were obtained from family and friends," Corbett said in the release. "The common way of disposing of prescription medication by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away poses potential safety and health hazards."